The day passed quickly, and he was above his bed, but he still couldn't figure out how Sloth's Artwork might work.
He manifested Wrath's Artwork and Patience's Artwork.
But many are left to go.
Haruka (in his mind):
"Once I master all of it... I will be more powerful."
Is that greed he is getting?
"Hmm... I might have Pride's Artwork, I met him way before... maybe it came without trying like Patience's artwork."
He then remembers something.
He can't be messing around.
He has to lock in.
The government over here is more manipulative and controlling than one can imagine. They have everything under check.
He gets the sudden urge to discover it all.
Greed.
For some reason, he wants something, but he doesn't know what he wants right now.
He hates himself for the fact that he can't do anything.
He has 3 elemental powers.
A prodigy, but still, he is feeling hopeless.
Maybe self-hatred and despair know no title.
He got up from his bed. Saito and Yume weren't asleep.
He took a deep breath, and he looked towards them.
"I've been thinking…" Haruka started, keeping his voice casual but serious. "About how things really work around here. The government… they're not protecting us. They're directing everything like a damn theater play."
Saito glanced at him. "What do you mean?"
Haruka leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
"They organize a lot of the villain attacks. They pick which small-time criminals to empower, decide when and where incidents happen. They choose who lives and who dies for the best narrative. Innocent people get sacrificed just to create the right amount of fear. Then they send selected heroes into the spotlight… but the ones who become too popular or too trusted? They eventually get sent to fights they're meant to lose. Their deaths become useful — big emotional moments the government uses to pass new laws, increase surveillance, and tighten control."
Saito sat up straight, frowning deeply. "Hold up. How the hell do you know all this?"
Haruka paused for a second, then let out a slow breath.
"One night, when we arrived, on the first day of our arrival, at the J-class venue… I woke up in the middle of the night to use the washroom. On my way back, I passed by one of the restricted rooms, which the guards were talking about. The door wasn't fully closed. I heard voices inside."
He looked straight at Saito.
"It was the President. He was talking with some high-ranking officials. They were casually discussing the next few 'incidents' like it was a damn movie script. Laughing about how useful the upcoming deaths would be for public approval ratings. I stayed there for a few minutes… heard more than I ever wanted to."
Yume's eyes flickered with understanding.
Saito looked stunned. "You're telling me you overheard the actual President saying this shit?"
"Yeah," Haruka replied quietly. "That's why I've been acting normal and keeping my head down. The moment we stand out too much or become too strong… we become part of their script. Another tragic sacrifice for their 'greater good.'"
The room fell into heavy silence.
Saito ran a hand through his hair, visibly disturbed. "Fuck… if this is real, then we're all just pawns."
Yume stayed quiet, but her gaze never left Haruka.
Haruka added:
"We have to do something about this... but we are only J-ranked mages... I just hope Aurel, Marcus, and others don't join T.H.S as assassins."
Saito replied:
"All we can do is hope..."
Yume:
"We should run away from this place..."
Haruka:
"Easy said than done."
Saito:
"We did harder stuff, didn't we?"
Haruka simply answered:
"No, don't sugarcoat it."
Yume:
"Create our own villain society?"
Haruka:
"THAT'S even harder... but smarter...But it will affect our Ferixo stones."
Yume:
"If Ferixo really does get turned into Alastor, then how are the villains scripted?"
That question alone weighs more than the burden that Haruka has upon his shoulder.
Saito:
"What if they are not scripted? What if the villains themselves don't know that they are also being used as pawns? What if the start of their story was according to the government?"
Haruka:
"Or maybe Alastor never existed to begin with? Even with these many vicious thoughts in our mind, all we can get from the Ferixo stone is a glowing Red-Black gradient? What if the government spread this propaganda so that people never get the idea of rebellion against them? What if the Ferixo Stones glow a red-black gradient due to evolution or just react because of our thoughts?"
The more they talked, the more they went deeper into the truth. They were discovering truths that shouldn't be true.
That leaves them with 2 main routes.
Play along with the government.
Or,
Create Alastor.